


For Acts of the Greatest Heroism

by ladyroxanne21



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Other, What should have happened after Voldemort was defeated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-30
Updated: 2016-10-30
Packaged: 2018-08-27 22:34:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8419816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyroxanne21/pseuds/ladyroxanne21
Summary: A month after defeating Voldemort, Harry finds himself in Buckingham Place to meet the Queen.





	

Harry was so nervous that his hands shook. He purposely flattened them and pressed them to his legs to keep them from shaking. He was tempted to pace, but took deep breaths to contain the urge. Instead, he caught his hands clenching the fabric of his outfit – which was hands down _the most_ expensive clothing he had ever worn. It was a sharp suit that was vaguely reminiscent of a military uniform.

Today was perhaps the second most important day of his life – the first being the day he defeated Voldemort – only just a month before. It was the Fifth of June and...

Wait, that date sounded familiar for some reason, as if it should have been important for a completely different reason. Harry frowned as he concentrated as hard as he could, but no matter what, he just couldn't remember. It was frustrating enough to calm Harry's overwrought nerves.

In the meantime, a strategically placed speaker next to him allowed him to keep an ear open for his cue. The large doors opening to admit him would be a definite clue, even if he had no others, but it was nice to know that something was happening – rather than just standing there cluelessly in silence.

An announcer informed everyone the information that was deemed important to know.

_Over the past few years, there existed a deranged man – a criminally insane man – who posed a threat to the safety of our citizens. He used acts of terrorism such as murder of innocents and wanton destruction to further his sadistic goals._ (The announcer took a few minutes to list specific acts that the public would recognize.) _In the course of his attempt to harm our beloved Kingdom, he targeted one particular boy for reasons known only to him._

_He tried to kill this boy when he was only a baby and continued to try to kill him many times over the years. It seems that a combination of the protection of loved ones and sheer luck saved this boy until he was old enough to defend himself from yet another vicious attempt on his life. In an extraordinary act of self defense, this boy – Harry Potter – defeated the terrorist who picked the grandiose and self important title of Lord Voldemort._

The enormous doors opened to reveal to Harry the ballroom of Buckingham Palace. There were hundreds of people that Harry had never met or seen before – muggles who had the privilege of an invitation to the Palace – and a handful of witches and wizards who Harry knew. 

Standing in a position of attendance near the Queen and the Prime Minister was Kingsley Shacklebolt. He was currently the temporary Minister of Magic who would be confirmed as the official Minister in a few months, but before he left his position as liaison and bodyguard for the muggle Prime Minister, he had kept the man up to date on the situation with Voldemort – and thus Harry's defeat of him.

Thus, Harry found himself walking down an aisle in the middle of the ballroom toward the Sovereign Ruler of Great Britain, Queen Elizabeth the Second. He honestly didn't know whether to be honored by the recognition or upset. He truly hated this sort of attention – so sincerely wished that Shacklebolt had kept his name out of the reports – but on the other hand, one did not say no to the Queen.

Plus, if he was honest, the thought of appearing on Television,  _muggle_ Television, was a bit of a childhood fantasy come true. Back when he was a small boy living in the cupboard under the stairs, he used to dream that his parents weren't really dead, but rather undercover spies. Or so extremely famous that they were stalked and had hidden him for his protection. Or if they were dead, that they had been Royalty or something so that it was only a matter of time before someone came to take him away.

That last bit had sort of happened, but in a completely unexpected way. It still made Harry smile to think of how he had learned he was a wizard and – 

_What in the world were the_ Dursleys _doing here?!_ Harry gaped at them in confusion and incredulity for a moment as he passed them. They were near the front of the crowd and looked astonished to see him. Almost as gobsmacked as he was to see them. Only Dudley looked... relieved – or something close to it – to see Harry.

Thankfully, Harry's feet carried him past his relatives. Ron and Hermione caught his attention next, along with the rest of the Weasleys. In Harry's opinion, they deserved recognition every bit as much as he did, but the official decision was that Harry was the one who had been harassed the most and had also done the actual defeating of Voldemort, thus he was the only one being honored in this public ceremony. Which was being held half a month earlier than normal in order to give Harry even  _more_ recognition.

A quick glace around showed him that there definitely were members of the press holding cameras of both video and photography capturing his every step. A hushed murmur told him that reporters were commenting on the event. They were probably repeating the official story that outlined Harry's deeds without giving away the fact that all of this had happened in the magical community for the most part.

Rather abruptly, Harry reached the culmination of his long walk. Kingsley caught his eye by very subtly gesturing for Harry to kneel on the special stool provided. This was a good thing because Harry was too awestruck by the fact that he was literally three feet in front of the Queen that he momentarily froze in place.

Harry knelt and then bowed his head. Queen Elizabeth waited for the announcer to finish up the tale of heroism versus evil deeds, but then the music and the crowd fell silent. Harry risked a glance up at her before looking to the sides to see Prince Charles and his two sons standing off to the side, watching the ceremony with interest. 

As Harry understood it, there was usually only one day a year that people were invited into the palace to receive such honor in a mass ceremony, but an exception had been made for him because of the unique circumstances. Basically, the fact that Voldemort could have destroyed the entire Kingdom on a whim had he wanted made Harry deserving of more honor.

Harry sighed heavily, still not feeling as if he truly deserved any of this.

Her Majesty took a step forward and smiled down at Harry. Holding her father's sword aloft, she reiterated the most important points of the ceremony.

“For your extraordinary bravery and service to the Kingdom, you have earned the title of Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.” She lightly tapped him on the shoulder with the sword, and then continued. “Look up – Sir Harry Potter – and accept the George Cross, the highest honor that can be given to a civilian for acts of the greatest heroism and the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger.”

Harry trembled slightly and held his breath as he looked up and watched the Queen pin a thick blue ribbon made out of sturdy cloth to his chest. From the bottom of the ribbon protruded a silver bar – like a belt buckle – decorated with what looked like wheat. From the bar dangled a silver-or-steel-colored cross with a stylized circle in the middle with a man on a galloping horse surrounded by the words:  _For Gallantry._

It had been explained to Harry that bearers of the George Cross were entitled to a yearly annuity of 10,000 Pounds, but that didn't really matter to him since he had a vault or two full of gold. Still, he supposed that it might come in handy if he ever had a squib child who needed to survive in the muggle world. He swallowed to wet his dry throat and nodded respectfully to the Queen.

She smiled at him rather grandmotherly and gestured for him to stand up and step to the side for a few moments as she closed the ceremony. Harry followed directions and found himself standing next to the young Princes and their father. Prince Charles gave him a kind but rather distant and polite smile.

As for the younger Princes, 15 year old William appeared friendly while his 12 year old brother grinned eagerly. He subtly leaned over until his mouth was very close to Harry's ear. “I'm called Harry too. I think we could be good friends – provided that you play polo.”

Harry immediately felt guilty and shook his head.

“Ah, well, no matter. I'll just have to teach you,” Harry the Prince stated with a bright grin. His hair was reddish and was reminiscent of Ron. “My brother loves to play too, so we can team up to defeat him.”

“I heard that,” William muttered in a practiced way that moved his lips very little. “And I'd like to see you try!”

Harry (Potter) chuckled lightly. “Sounds fun.”

“And you can tell us all about Hogwarts,” Prince Harry added.

“You know about Hogwarts?” Harry asked in surprise.

“Of course,” both Princes stated. Prince Harry cupped his hand around his mouth so that no one could read his lips or overhear him. “We've got magic too, only we're not allowed to use it beyond what is necessary to learn how to control it because we're always being watched and we can't let the muggles know.”

“Oh... then I suppose you've never played Quidditch,” Harry murmured, also cupping a hand around his mouth to cover the conversation.

“No,” both Princes grumbled a bit petulantly. “But we went to the world cup a few years ago,” William added. “We were whisked away the moment the game ended, but we heard that trouble broke out later that night.”

“Maybe after you teach me to play polo, I can try to teach you how to play Quidditch,” Harry offered, and then dropped his hand because he noticed Hermione looking over at him with a slight scowl, as if she thought he was saying something crass to Royalty. He smirked a bit mysteriously at the thought.

Prince Harry grinned wider than ever and looked like he sincerely wished he could throw his arms around his new friend and hug him tight. Harry smiled at the Prince in return, wondering what it would be like if he had a younger brother. Or two. Prince William was fighting a mischievous smile.

“We've got a few bodyguards who can cast charms to keep anyone from noticing if we fly around on brooms,” William said. “Even so, we don't get a chance to do it often. I look forward to it.”

“Me too!” Prince Harry exclaimed.

The two of them were subtly hushed by their father. “Finish this conversation later on in private where there's no risk of being overheard.”

“Yes father,” they murmured obediently. Harry felt nauseous at having gotten them in trouble, but Prince Charles smiled at him again to reassure him that no harm had been done.

After an exhausting few hours of mingling with guests, most of whom he didn't know, Harry was given a posh guest suite to stay in for the night. He slept like he was dead mostly because there was a charm on the bed to give him pleasant dreams – which was a welcome change from his nightmares.

In the morning, Prince Harry burst into the room rather more enthusiastically than his personal guard liked.

“Highness! You're supposed to knock and wait for permission first!”

Prince Harry scoffed. “Harry's my friend! He doesn't mind me barging in on him!”

“What if he had been – er – _occupied_ with another friend?” The bodyguard chided delicately.

“Er...” Prince Harry stopped short to give Harry a mildly guilty look. “If you had been, I would have been terribly sorry to interrupt.”

Harry laughed. “Lucky for everyone involved that I wasn't. And I don't mind you barging in. I'm used to sleeping in a dorm,” he added with a shrug.

Encouraged, Prince Harry tossed a paper on the bed next to Harry. “Look, we made the front page!”

Sure enough, when he picked up the papers, Harry discovered that he and Prince Harry were on the front of The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, The Sun, and The Daily Mirror. It was a rather good picture of the two of them grinning at each other a bit mischievously. The headlines all read some form of the same theme: _Harry and Harry, the Prince and the Hero, Friends Already?_

“Er...” Harry droned on for a moment, then sighed heavily.

The young Prince frowned. “Don't you like it?”

Harry shrugged. “I've just had more harassing articles about me in the papers than good ones. I mostly wish that they wouldn't publish anything about me.”

Prince Harry laughed. “Good luck with that! We're told all the time that we're going to be in the paper whenever we appear in public, and the best thing to do is just accept it and try not to do anything too embarrassing.”

“That's good advice,” Harry acknowledged with a grin. Then he gestured toward a window to indicate outside in general. “So, am I supposed to stay for that polo lesson today?”

Prince Harry frowned. “You say that as if you don't have any choice in the matter.”

“Well... do I?” Harry wondered. After all, he was talking to an honest to Merlin Prince. It's not like he could say no.

“You do,” Prince Harry assured him with a small pout of disappointment.

“Well, in that case, would you _like_ to teach me polo now?” Harry asked with a fond smile.

Prince Harry lit up like a Christmas tree. “Of course! Let's go wake up William and see if he wants to play too!”

Harry nodded in agreement, wondering how his life had turned out so strange that he was in the Palace with the Prince about to play polo. It wasn't something he ever truly expected to happen to someone like him. Slipping out of bed with a grin, he decided that it didn't really matter.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I was reading something else - about how Harry is hounded by the wizarding media - and it occurred to me that he is hounded because he's a Hero who saved the world from evil. Thus, if there was any justice in real life, he'd be honored by muggles too :-)  
> Plus, I really just wanted to be able to write a story about Harry and Harry, lol!


End file.
